As is known, laser light beams have been employed in many product applications including laser printers, scanners, projectors, CD players and CD-ROM readers. More recently, such light beams have been employed in contemporary applications including light detection and ranging (LiDAR), free space communications, and holographic displays. Many of these applications require the relative movement of the laser beam across an area or surface, which is achieved by mechanical means. Typically, this takes the form of movement of a laser device itself, the deflection of the beams by movable mirrors and/or prisms, or movement of the surface onto which the beam is projected. Historically, devices using mechanical moving parts have tended to be more expensive, less reliable, and slower than solid state devices which may achieve the same result without moving parts.
Phased array radar systems—which operate in the microwave range of the electromagnetic spectrum—have used beams of electromagnetic radiation which are steered without movable antennae. Consequently, attempts to apply phased array principles to optical phased array systems have been more recently made.
Recent advancements in silicon photonics fabrication technologies has precipitated the development of nanophotonic optical phased arrays that have proven useful in many of the noted contemporary applications. Given their utility, further development and/or improvement of nanophotonic optical phased arrays would represent a welcome addition to the art.